David Riggs, St. Monica Pier buzzer, dead

TangoWhiskey

TangoWhiskey

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Feb 23, 2005
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3Green
Remember this guy? Lost his license over that. Lost his life in China, now:



Early Details Of U.S. Pilot Crash In China

First reports regarding the fatal crash of a Lancair 320 piloted by U.S.
pilot David Riggs while flying in northeastern China for a movie stunt that
he was attempting to "waterski" the aircraft across the surface of a lake,
on its wheels, in bad weather. Chinese officials said Wednesday that a
substantial portion of the aircraft had been recovered from the lake, as
was the body of his 18-year-old translator, but Riggs' body was not
immediately found. The flight departed a local airport at approximately
1:40 p.m. local time and the weather at the time "was bad," according to
Chinese official Xu Jiuquing, but did not elaborate extensively on weather
conditions. The official said only that it was raining and Riggs rejected
advice to cancel the flight and instead "insisted on flying."

Riggs had reportedly worked on a movie titled "Top Gun" that may have
involved performance of the stunt and was recreating it for another
audience. He had intended to attend the AOPA-China Fly-In 2013, scheduled
for September 20-22. The accident is not expected to interrupt the show. A
search team sent to the lake where the aircraft crashed was said to have
been greeted by poor underwater visibility and low water temperatures that
limited the amount of time divers could spend in the water. One early
report stated that two seat backs had been found but a seat bottom was
missing, leading to speculation that Riggs remained fastened to the seat
and was trapped with the wreckage. The accident aircraft was locally built
and had been flight tested. At least one report states that Riggs himself
had "affirmed that the aircraft was in good condition." At nightfall,
Wednesday in China, the search for Riggs's body was expected to continue at
daybreak, weather permitting.
Click to expand...
 
Why am I not surprised about his outcome. His checkered past finally caught up with him....
Sigh....
 
Gee, no one was shocked on that one.

He's better off dead, in China if he had lived and the passenger died it's off to prison.
 
bartmc said:
Why didn't the FAA drop the hammer on this guy? Seems someone has a website out there whining about that? If even half of what's on that website is true, it seems the FAA would have nailed him, or were they too busy bustin' people's chops during ramp checks? :D
Click to expand...

Why don't you call them (FAA) and ask?
 
bartmc said:
Why didn't the FAA drop the hammer on this guy? Seems someone has a website out there whining about that? If even half of what's on that website is true, it seems the FAA would have nailed him, or were they too busy bustin' people's chops during ramp checks? :D
Click to expand...

They did, a couple of times.

Supposedly he was now flying the china gig with a canadian certificate.
 
Translator huh. Right. I know all about that.
 
FAA revoked his certificates. They did their part.
 
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